Related articles
Current AffairsKanzelsberger: small publishers & bookstores will be hard hit by VAT hike
Publishers, booksellers as well as many consumers in the Czech Republic are
far from happy about the government’s intention to raise the VAT on goods
including books to a uniform 20 percent to help pay for its pension reform.
Those in the book market fear that it will be hard hit and say that in
principle books as a cultural mainstay should be exempt, and that has led
to an online petition now signed by more than 80,000. But so far –
despite the culture minister’s own misgivings over the higher VAT on
books – there has been no signal from the government that books should be
left out.
More
Current AffairsArnošt Lustig behind the counter at the Franz Kafka book shop in Prague
Arnošt Lustig, one of the Czech Republic’s literary greats, has been
giving salespeople a helping hand this week. Although still weak from an
ongoing battle with cancer, Mr. Lustig put a smile on his face and spent a
week behind the sales desk at the Franz Kafka book shop in Prague,
attracting crowds of people who came to buy an autographed book and wish
him well.
More
Current AffairsCzech publishers opposed to Google’s plans to digitise millions of books
The Google Books Library is a huge project under which the internet giant
aims to scan millions of books and make them available on-line. In the US a
court is considering a deal struck between Google and publishers that would
cover all books covered by copyright in the US, a deal which would see
copyright holders receive nearly two thirds of the price of books printed
to order from Google Books. Now the issue has come before the European
Commission in Brussels, with many in Europe wary of Google’s plans. Among
them is the Association of Czech Booksellers and Publishers. I spoke to its
chairman Vladimír Pistorius at a Prague centre bookshop on Tuesday
morning.
More
Current AffairsRenovation work begins at Prague’s main station
Prague’s main station, Hlavní nádraží, is getting a facelift. In the
first stage of a complete reconstruction, two glittering new shops have
opened in the station’s entrance hall. The developers are calling the
stores a first step in the hub’s transformation from a grotty and
dangerous interchange into a ‘shopping mecca’. But there’s still a
way to go:
More
Czech BooksStill a nation of bookworms in the era of the shopping mall
We are in the middle of the huge and very modern Novy Smichov shopping
complex, one of many that have sprung up in Prague and other Czech cities
in recent years. This country's consumer appetite seems insatiable. Around
me there are shops selling clothes, electronic goods, fast food and toys,
but there are also a couple of big bookshops that seem to be doing a
pretty good job of attracting the attention of passing shoppers. In the
Czech Republic it seems that the book is alive and well. For the rest of
the programme I'm going to be talking to one of the most successful Czech
booksellers, Jan Kanzelsberger - who should be able to tell us which books
are selling this Christmas and whether, as it seems, Czechs are still a
nation of bookworms.
More
Current Affairs"Holocaust denier" Irving's books freely available in Czech Republic
Controversial British historian David Irving has featured heavily in the
world's media this week after being convicted in Austria for denying the
Holocaust. The trial was based on Mr Irving's book "Hitler's
War", in which the author claims that Hitler knew nothing of the
Holocaust and Auschwitz was not an extermination camp. But Czech
translations of David Irving's books are also widely available in this
country - where Holocaust denial is a crime.
More
Czech BooksJirina Smejkalova and an extraordinary publishing revolution
Few fields can have gone through such radical changes over the 16 years
since the fall of communism as publishing. In her research, the academic,
sociologist, cultural theorist and feminist Jirina Smejkalova has shed
some fascinating light on the subject, publishing a study that has become
a classic of its kind. She is also well known for her writing on feminism,
and was one of the first people to introduce contemporary western feminist
thinking to the post-Velvet Revolution Czech Republic. In this week's
Czech Books she talks to Pavla Jonssonova. She starts their conversation
by remembering back to the beginnings of her academic career, as an
undergraduate in Prague during the deepest days of communism in the late
1970s. Surprisingly, given that those were the days of censorship and
social engineering, she feels more than a little nostalgic.
More
Press ReviewPress Review
Parliament's passing of next year's state budget including its record 115
billion crown deficit, as well as a street protest by students angry over
the under-financing of Czech universities - both make the front pages of
today's dailies. One of the headlines in reads "Relief for the
government - the budget has passed", while showing a photo of a
visibly pleased Prime Minister Vladmir Spidla.
More
